Posted in Ramblings

 This was combined with a pack meeting, where the boys were awarded any other patches and badges and loops they had earned. Ted received his popcorn sales patch, the regatta patch, and a water gun prize for selling popcorn. They also practiced the actual flag ceremony, which I hope means they get to count that as one of their achievements toward the Tiger badge. One little boy, who has been the lone Bear while the others were involved in soccer, earned his Bear badge … he was quite proud! Then we had snacks, mostly popcorn (our contribution) and cookies, though one mom had made stuffed potato halves with sails stuck in them … very cute potato boats!

It was fun to see the variety in the boats the children put together. Some were simple painted affairs, like Madeline’s, and one was a three-masted boat with all sorts of figurines on it. Ted’s fell somewhere in the middle as far as detail … it wasn’t a fancy shape or anything, but he and Daddy did a thorough sanding and painting and assembly job, and they did some basic decorations too (some painted and some decal). It was one of the few that didn’t topple over on its first journey down the gutter track. (After some minor adjustments with glue, most of the others managed not to topple over either.) The boys had fun practicing blowing their boats down the track, using straws, but by the time they were ready for the ‘real’ race, most of them had wandered off to the playground. They had had enough fun already. So the official race was just cancelled … it was only for the boys anyway, and not to advance further in some competition.

Back home again, Ted and Daddy are playing World of Goo on the computer – a truly odd game by the guy who wrote Crayon Physics. Aunt Tammy and family came by to bring a belated birthday gift for Ted: a set of simple wooden model kits to put together, and a Card Works building kit, which is really cool. (I can't find a good link but you can search it on Amazon.) We ended up ordering pizza for dinner because everyone is feeling more or less sick, and neither one of us felt like cooking or even facing leftovers.